Sonobuoys are equipped with electronic sensors to both gather data and transmit that data. Sonobuoys have been used to detect and locate submerged submarines. They have also been used in military and private applications to take measurements regarding the environment such as water temperature, current flow, etc. Sonobuoys can be free-floating, anchored or station-keeping. For more useful collection of data, it is desirable for the sonobuoys to be either anchored or station-keeping in order to collect data from relatively the same location. Station-keeping buoys are preferred in situations where an extended anchor would not be desirable or practical.
Station-keeping buoys, however, consume power quickly through the propulsion system used to keep the buoy in the same geographic location. This rapid power consumption prevents the station-keeping buoy from operating for extended periods of time. Additionally, sonobuoys used by the Navy are often launched through a small tube (i.e. typically a tube with an 8 inch diameter). The typical shape of the sonobuoys is, accordingly, cylindrical. Any deployable sonobuoys must, therefore, conserve this cylindrical shape in order to be launched from existing tubes.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for a deployable station-keeping buoy which can be launched from existing launch tubes and which significantly reduces power consumption allowing the buoy to operate for extended periods of time.